Luxa and the Overlander
by Luana012
Summary: Luxa, the queen of the human stone city of Regalia, had always lived an action-packed life, but when Gregor the Overlander comes and he is discovered to be the Warrior in Sandwich's prophecies, her whole life changes, and even though she doesn't like Gregor at first, she finds herself quite drawn to him. This is Gregor the Overlander from Luxa's point of view. Please R
1. Chapter 1

Luxa entered the arena on her golden flier, Aurora, just as the game started. She only had time to wave at Henry, her sixteen-year-old best friend and cousin, before the fliers started to fly with their human bonds on their backs. Henry winked back and rose from the ground on his big and strong black flier, Ares.

Henry immediately caught the ball, as always. Luxa went down to him and tried to get the ball off him. Her silvery-blonde hair got in the way so she tucked her long braid in her belt. Ares and Henry made a strong and fast team, but Luxa and Aurora could perform many acrobatic movements with perfect accuracy, so they quickly had the small yellow ball.

Luxa could not help thinking about the party planned for Nerissa, Henry's sister, that day. She would turn eighteen. Luxa, Henry, Ares and Aurora had been making preparations since months ago, and it was finally here. She looked down at the ball and a wave of sadness washed over her. She wished that they could play with any ball but this one, but that would just seem childish, and she was eleven years old.

This ball had once belonged to her mother. Luxa smiled sadly as she remembered her mother telling her that it had been in the family for five generations now, and that when she would die, Luxa would inherit it. Well, both her parents had been killed a little over a year ago. Luxa always kept telling herself every day that it would be her last day to live, too, yet she somehow always lived, always cheating death out.

She had always been afraid of dying since her parents died, so every morning, when she woke up; she would tell herself that she would die that day, because it was bad to hold on to time when you know that you won't have it, that you could lose it any second, because that's how it worked in the Underland. Every second, even if it seems safe, is dangerous, because, in the Underland, you could die any second.

Luxa had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Henry coming behind her he reached for the ball and Luxa pulled it away, sticking out her tongue, just in time. Suddenly, she noticed a dozen crawlers entering the arena through the moth curtains and she grimaced. She would never really like the crawlers, she knew it. Maybe in another lifetime, she would, but not while she still lived this life. She should have known about the crawlers coming, they were supposed to come for trading food or something of the sort.

Luxa noticed that one of the crawlers had a small girl on it and there was a boy her age running along behind them, a shocked expression on his face. She was somewhat excited, because she knew instantly that these two people were Overlanders. She had never met an Overlander. Luxa instantly knew how to greet them, by doing one of her favourite flips. That might seem intimidating, and she was a queen, or a queen-to-be, after all, so it would be nice to gain some respect. Everyone in the arena, watching the game or playing it, gasped as they saw the two Overlanders, it was a bit odd for _two_ of them to be here, even one visiting was as rare as trees, but Luxa didn't gasp and she held her dignity, putting on her best queen look.

Once the boy had stopped running and had started surveying the crowd with a puzzled look at the fliers. "He has never seen fliers so big before," Luxa almost said out loud with amusement at his face. She signalled Aurora to go down, and the little girl on the crawler brushed Aurora's fur, her face lighting up with joy like a torch.

"Bat!" the small girl shouted, pointing at Aurora with one chubby finger. Aurora flipped upside-down and Luxa released her legs, dropping off Aurora's back. She did quite a wild flip, turned around to face the boy and landed easily on her feet. Luxa held out her hand and the ball, which she had thrown into the air right before letting go of Aurora, landed neatly in her hand. The boy looked even more shocked as he looked, clearly amazed, at Luxa's face.


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all, thanks to XXXpossessedforlifeXXX for reviewing and I hope that you will like the whole story. It will be quite different from the books, actually. **

**I will try to update about once or twice, sometimes three a day, three times only if I want to treat you for giving me nice reviews, although I would like to see some reviews if you don't like the story so I know what to fix and all, it will be fast going so in no time at all we could be on the last book, Code of Claw…**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

"He is strange," were the first words that Luxa thought as she looked at the Overland boy. He had brown hair and warm brown eyes, his skin was slightly tanned and he wore funny clothes. He was looking at her in the same curious and surprised way that she was looking at him. As his eyes found the gold band on her head that showed she was the queen, he frowned a little, as if something displeased him.

"I do not care if something displeases you," Luxa thought but she knew better than to say it out loud. Being a queen, she should at least try to be respectful, but there was something about this boy that she did not like, that annoyed her, and yet she also had a bit of a warm feeling about him. She straightened up even more and let her half-smile show at the left corner of her mouth, just to show this boy that she was in charge whether he liked it or not.

Luxa was a bit startled as his eyes met hers. No-one that was not close to her, either as friends of family, had ever looked into her eyes. She did not know when he would talk, and she was going to introduce herself just to break this silence when the little girl plowed into her and almost knocked her down. She stared at the small girl, quite surprised.

"Ball?" the toddler asked, holding up a chubby hand. Luxa knelt on one knee and held up the ball, holding it tightly. She did not want to give away her mother's ball, even if it caused pain, it was a reminder of her parents, but refusing the sweet child would seem…not like a queen. She got an idea. A challenge would be good. She would challenge the little girl to take it, she would certainly not succeed, and she could keep her mother's ball without seeming mean.

"It is yours if you can take it," Luxa said in what she hoped was a kind voice yet worthy for a queen. It came out wrong, and her voice sounded all cold and arrogant. She did not change tones and stayed on the line, she would appear like a joke if she switched attitude and tones like that.

The little girl tried to take her ball, and tried to take Luxa's fingers off it when she would not let go. "Ball?" she asked again. Luxa gave a small shake of her head.

"You will have to be stronger or smarter than I am." She said. That sounded kind of bad, as if she were sneering at the child. "Too late to turn back now," Luxa thought as the small girl looked up at her and suddenly poked her right in the eye shouting "Pu-ple!" Luxa jerked back and dropped the ball, rubbing her eyelid.

"I guess she's smarter," said the strange brown-haired boy. Luxa felt her blood boiling at his comment, but she did not lose control of her actions. Luxa narrowed her eyes and tried to pierce him with a scary queen-look, but he did not act scared or even intimidated.

"But not you. Or you would not say such things to a queen," she said, making her tone colder than ever. How _dare_ he speak to a queen like that? Did he not have any brains? Luxa was not officially queen yet, and would not be until she turned sixteen, but she was not going to say that in front of this brat. The boy shrugged indifferently "No, if I'd known you were a queen, I'd probably have said something a lot cooler."

What did that word even mean? And why did he shorted his words like that, instead of saying "I would," saying "I'd" Luxa let her curiosity take over for a second and instantly regretted it. Now she would seem stupid.

"Cool-er," she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly for emphasis.

"Better," said the boy, and Luxa decided to give him a second chance. She might learn a new word or two, and she might make a better queen. "I will forgive it as you are not knowing. What are you called, Overlander?" she asked. She was certain it would be one of those funny names Vikus had told her Overlanders have, like Mickey or Coco or Fred Clark.

"My name's Gregor. And that's Boots," said the Overlander, pointing to the little girl whom Luxa had figured out was his sister. Their names _did _sound funny, why name a little girl after a kind of shoe?

"Well, her name's not really Boots, it's Margaret, but we call her Boots because in the winter she steals everybody's boots and runs around in them and because of this musician my dad likes." Said Gregor, and Luxa was thoroughly confused now. "What's your name?"

"I am Queen Luxa," Luxa said with what she hoped was pride and dignity.

"Louk-za?" said Gregor, and Luxa was a bit insulted by the way she pronounced her name, but she decided to ignore it and ask something else, hoping it was not another stupid question.

"What means this, what the baby says? Pu-ple?" she asked. She wanted to learn as many new words as possible.

"Purple. It's her favourite color. And your eyes, she's never seen purple eyes before," Gregor explained. Luxa thought this was most strange, everyone here had purple eyes, and then she remembered that these people had come from above the surface of the earth. The little girl, Boots, heard the word purple and raised her palms, which, oddly enough, were purple, and Gregor's were not.

"I have never seen brown before. Not on a human," Luxa said, looking into Boots' eyes as she didn't want to meet Gregor's gaze again. It was too uncomfortable, and yet she somehow wanted to see his eyes more than Boots' for an unknown reason. "Or this," Luxa continued, grabbing Boots' wrist gently and stroking the soft kin, which was pale but a lot darker that hers or any other human's she had ever seen. "It must need much light."

Boots giggled, obviously ticklish, and Luxa tickled her chin on purpose to hear the little girl laugh, but she then remembered that she had to act like a queen, and not to joke around, so she straightened up. "So, Gregor the Overlander, you and your baby must bathe." She said. She didn't mean it in a rude way, but if the gnawers caught his Overland scent it would be bad, very bad.

"Maybe we should just go," said Gregor in a slightly angry voice. He had taken Luxa's advice as an offence, most likely.

"Go? Go where?" Luxa asked, quite surprised. They couldn't go anywhere until they had gotten rid of their Overland scent, it was far too dangerous, and, looking at Gregor's stubborn face, she knew that getting him to stop risking his life and the life of others around him would be a challenge, and yet Luxa still almost like to be around him, because, since the moment he ran into the arena with his sister and the long-forgotten crawlers, something in her life had fit back into place, but something also seemed different, like something major had changed, although she did not know what, but she had known instantly that only one person could have the nerve to speak like this boy did, to act like him. She knew he was brave, and he was an Overlander…

Luxa had been told ever so many times that an Overlander would be a major part in their lives, and it seemed that she suddenly knew who this boy was. But she did not want to believe it, even though every part of her mind knew who this boy was, she did not want to believe herself. But yet she knew, this boy, he was the Warrior.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi there! First of all, this chapter is dedicated to: theauthor, Hera6, George, Thornsandhearts and kittykatz101. You don't know what joy you make in my heart when I read a review, or see that someone has favourite or followed my story, and you really lighten my day, so thanks.**

After Luxa got over her initial shock of realizing that this boy was the Warrior, she dismissed her thoughts. How could _this _Overlander, of all the others, be the Warrior?

"Home," said Gregor, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Smelling like you do?" Luxa exclaimed. This boy was, if he was anything, stupid. There was no other name that Luxa had for him other than the ones that showed that he was simply a brainless, dim-witted, idiotic, thick-headed loser. Warrior, really? It was a wonder that he was not dead already, a miracle.

"You will be thrice dead before you even reach the Waterway, even if you knew the path to take." Again, just from looking at Gregor's face Luxa knew he didn't understand. She should use vocabulary that was in the limits of the Overlander's brain.

"You smell of the Overland. That is not safe for you here. Or for us." Luxa explained, hoping against hope that Gregor had understood. This actually was very dangerous, because the rats would try to kill every Overlander that came here and the people around them, as they knew that an Overlander would be the Warrior in Bartholomew in Sandwich's prophecies.

"Oh," said Gregor, and Luxa was gratified to see the embarrassed look on his face and ashamed sound in his voice. "I guess we should rinse off before we go home, then,"

"It is not so simple. But I will let Vikus explain," Luxa said. Vikus was her grandfather, but she called him Vikus as it was only worthy for a Queen. Before her parents had been killed, she had called him "Grandpa," but, after she had started talking again, she had started to be colder than ever to the people around her, because, if you love someone, it will just hurt more when you lose them, and everyone dies eventually. Being raised in the Underland, Luxa knew that death could strike anytime, and she didn't want to love even more so as to not be so hurt when they die.

"You have had rare luck today, being found so quickly." Luxa said, her arrogant and cold voice turning soft and sentimental, but she quickly resumed her queen voice.

"How do you know we were found quickly?" asked Gregor curiously.

"Our lookouts noted you shortly after you landed. As you were the crawlers' find, we let them present you," Luxa explained. The Regalian lookouts were nibblers that hid around…everywhere, really.

"I see," said Gregor, but it did not look as if he saw at all.

"These were headed here, in any case," Luxa said, waving a hand around at the crawlers waiting to be presented. They looked a bit frustrated and somewhat bored, but crawlers were not the complaining kind. "See, they carry torches. They would not bother if they were not visiting us." The crawlers had come for a trading trip, but Luxa would leave that with Vikus.

"Why's that?" asked Gregor, and Luxa was getting more bored than ever explaining everything. _Where_ _was Vikus?! _

"Crawlers do not need light. But they show themselves to us to let us know that they come peacefully. Did you not wonder at how easily you arrived here?" asked Luxa, but it was the kind of question that you did not want to hear the answer to, the kind that just leaves you thinking, so, without waiting for an answer, Luxa just walked over to the crawlers to negotiate, at Vikus seemed to have no plans of coming this decade.

"Crawlers, what take you for the Overlanders?" She asked, a bit disgusted at having to be so close to a crawler.

"Give you five baskets, give you?" the leader asked. _Five _baskets of grain! For walking over to Regalia with two people!

"We will give three grain baskets," said Luxa

"Rats give many fish," said the crawler. Luxa knew that they would never give humans over to the rats, but it was their way of making others agree with them.

"Give you four baskets, give you?" the crawler asked, trying his or hers or whatever's luck.

"We will give four baskets, and one for thanks," Luxa recognised Vikus' voice. _Now_ he shows up and lets the crawlers have their way. She uselessly noted Gregor turning around to look at Vikus, glaring at Vikus as menacingly as she could. The crawler, being, impossibly, even more stupid than Gregor, added up four and one on its legs.

"Give you five baskets, give you?" it asked when it was done. Luxa scowled.

"We will give baskets," she said with a mocking bow, and was more than pleased to see the bugs scurry out of the arena. She hoped she did not see then again for long.

"And if it is up to Vikus, soon we will have no baskets to give," she said, directing her phrase to Vikus. Vikus was almost ignoring her, staring at the two Overlanders

"One more basket will be a small price to pay if he is expected," Vikus answered, and he looked at Luxa in a way that told her that he, too had the idea that Gregor was the Warrior. Luxa forgot about the rest of the conversation as she vaguely wondered if Gregor had ever even held a weapon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, I just wanted to ask, if you're thirteen, you're a teenager, right? Because I'm almost thirteen, so I **_**am **_**a teenager, basically…?**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_**The Toast Ninja **_**and **_**Der King.**_

**From now on, I will slightly change the dedications. The first person to review on a chapter gets the dedication of the next one, so review away, people! (Please?)**

**I also need you guys to do me a favour. Please read the other story written by me, **_**Gregor and the Sinister Dreams,**_** and decide whether I should put that one in Luxa's POV after I finish code of claw in here or I should make a SPECIAL ending to the Code of Claw…**

**I will let you vote, so vote in reviews or PM's**

Luxa did not even hear what Gregor and Vikus were talking about; she was so absorbed in her thoughts. She knew that Bartholomew of Sandwich had written four prophecies about the Warrior, who was supposed to save Regalia, but she had never had the chance to read them, because every time she entered the prophecy room her thoughts were drawn to one single prophecy that had haunted her life. The prophecy that foretold her parents' end. It was funny, she knew it off by heart, yet she always _had_ to read it if she went in Bartholomew of Sandwich's room, as if she just wanted to refresh her mind, tell herself that it had happened, so she should get over it. But she could not. She had never accepted that her parents were dead, that they were gone for good. Even now, the prophecy that she had first read at six years of age rang through her ears.

_Parents of the Queen of Light_

_Daughter of two opposites_

_Son of a king, the time is right_

_For your deaths to come_

_King and Queen, the end shall strike_

_Your end, your daughter's start_

_And so for us, for them alike_

_A new time shall begin_

"What do you mean?" Gregor's loud voice brought Luxa out of her daydream. It had, in fact, only lasted about a minute. Luxa had not heard what Vikus had said before this, but she had a pretty good idea.

"He means that you cannot go home. You must stay with us in the Underland." Luxa said, trying to act like she knew what this whole discussion was about. She had gotten lucky this time.

"Uh, no! No, thank you. I mean, you're all great, but I've got stuff to do…upstairs!" Gregor said in a surprised outburst. "Thanks again! Nice meeting you! Come on, Boots!" Gregor grabbed Boots in his arms, who was looking curiously at Luxa's ball, and he headed towards the exit to the tunnels around the arena.

Luxa saw Vikus nod at her and she raised her hand in a signal. She saw Gregor looking at her in a puzzled way, alarm shooting through his face, and he started running - well, more of a clumsy gallop, as he was dragging Boots along – towards the exit. Ares and Henry reached the two Overlanders first, they were by far the fastest and strongest team, and they knocked Gregor flat on his back. Boots was sitting up on his stomach, clapping her hands together. Soon every flier in the arena except for Aurora was flying in a tight circle around Boots and Gregor.

Luxa caught Henry's eye and they both grinned. Henry was doing a great job at showing off, too, sitting in a very relaxed position on Ares' back.

Boots had started bouncing on Gregor's stomach, and she enthusiastically chanted "Bats! Bats! Bats!* Bats! Bats! Bats! Bats!" Gregor pushed himself up on his elbows and shoved Boots off. He then got to his feet and shouted something at the fliers and their human bonds that Luxa didn't hear. She gave another signal and the fliers left Gregor and Boots, who had her arm around his knee.

Before Luxa of any of the others even knew what had hit them, Gregor ran towards the exit, then abruptly turned around and went back to Luxa. The fliers all tried to make a circle around Gregor to prevent him from escaping, then realized that he actually wasn't going anywhere. They didn't hit against each other, but a few people were almost dropped off their bonds. The crowd gathered to watch the forgotten ball game started laughing.

Luxa could have slapped him there and then, but she didn't want to lose her temper in front of half of Regalia. She looked at him, about to explode.

"So, you said something about a bath?" Gregor told Luxa, and she almost lost it at his indifference. She scowled at Vikus, who was trying to hide a smile.

"You will follow to the palace _now_," was all she said, but she had to do something to get this anger out of her quick. Aurora came behind her, and Luxa leaped in the air. She did a fairly simple – for her - yet impressive move and Aurora flew as fast as she could out of the arena. She barely heard Gregor, but she _did _hear him.

"You're wasting your time with that stuff!" Luxa grinned and made a mental note to show Gregor her wildest flip ever when she got the chance.

_***1 "Bats! Bats! Bats! Funky little bats, bats are the critters of the night!" That thing was stuck in my head as I wrote this and I had to get it out of my system ;P**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! I know I got a few demands for longer chapters, and I will try my best to make them longer, but I am always really busy, and I can just scrape out half an hour a day to write a chapter. I will try to do everything a bit faster and maybe write for an hour a day, but no promises.**

**This is dedicated to **_**Regina.**_

Luxa and Aurora flew right through the moths, leaving Gregor and Vikus far behind them. Henry and Ares caught up with them, though. The two human-bat teams raced to the palace, never saying a word. Luxa was grateful for the silence, as she could think in peace and quiet except for the rhythmic sound of Ares' and Aurora's wings flapping. "How can he be the Warrior? He has, no doubt, never fought before, and perhaps not even held a sword. Isn't the Warrior supposed to save out city from complete destruction, from what Vikus says, at least? Ugh, I have to read that prophecy!" Luxa thought. She must have said the "Ugh," out loud, though, because Henry gave her an amused look and started laughing until he was in stitches.

"Luxa, if you could see your face right now!" Henry got out between his laughter, trying desperately to get air into his system. Luxa scowled at him but she held laughter back herself. Henry's laughter was contagious. He was the only human that made her happy, and Ares and Aurora completed the list of the creatures that could make her smile. She bit her cheek so hard so as not to burst out laughing that she soon felt the metallic taste of blood.

"Henry, I need to tell you something, but I think we should wait until you shut up so that you won't die of laughter," Luxa said in a very serious tone. Henry stopped laughing.

"What? Is it anything about that Overlander?"

"Yes, but we should wait to speak to Nerissa, as she knows the nature of the prophecies better." Luxa said, meaning it. Nerissa was a visionary herself, just like Bartholomew of Sandwich.

"Luxa, what does he have anything to do with the prophecies?" Henry asked, obviously not understanding what she was suggesting. Then it sunk in. "No. you do not…you do not think he is…I mean, he is _not. _Really, Luxa, from all of the Overlanders that have come here before, just…just tell me,_ why _do you think he is?" said Henry. Luxa tried to find the best argument as to why Gregor just _had _to be the Warrior, although she did not want to believe it herself.

"First of all, he has daring; you have to give him that. Did you not hear how he spoke to me, the queen? I am actually not very sure _why _I think he is the Warrior, it is just that…I do not know, I am just a bit drawn to him, and I have a feeling that he is much of Regalia's future. He has something…Henry, let us just simply give him a chance, we could end up becoming friends, good friends, with him, please?" Luxa just wanted one thing right now, to get to know this Overlander better. She was strangely fascinated by him, and it wasn't just that he was the first Overlander she had ever seen. Everything was so mixed up.

It was a relief when they finally reached the palace. Henry and Luxa ran off to find Nerissa immediately. She was sitting hunched over in her favourite place, the corner in the prophecy room where _The Peacemaker _prophecy was carved, reading the short prophecy over and over again.

"Nerissa! We have need of you, I shall let Luxa explain," Henry burst out before Nerissa even had time to raise her emaciated head. Her huge and hollow eyes searched their faces and then she gave a small nod to Luxa.

"Nerissa, I think…no, I am _sure, _that the Warrior has arrived in Regalia." Luxa said, trying to explain as calmly as possible. Nerissa gave her one look and nodded, standing weakly up and using the walls of the room for support. She made her way to the place where the P_rophecy of Grey _was carved into the walls and read it, slowly tracing her bony fingers along the outline of the writing.

"What makes you think so, Luxa? Why would you be so sure?" asked Nerissa, pushing her long and tangled silvery-blonde hair back from her eyes. Luxa took a deep breath and was about to start explaining when she remembered something. She had to read the prophecy first, to know what it said. She walked up to Nerissa and looked at the prophecy which she had never read. She tried to remember to keep up on her prophecies from now on, being queen.

_BEWARE, UNDERLANDERS, TIME HANGS BY A THREAD_

_THE HUNTERS ARE HUNTED, WHITE WATER RUNS RED_

_THE GNAWERS WILL STRIKE TO EXTINGUISH THE REST_

_THE HOPE OF THE HOPELESS RESIDES IN A QUEST_

_AN OVERLAND WARRIOR, A SON OF THE SON_

_MAY BRING US BACK LIGHT, MAY BRING US BACK NONE_

_BUT GATHER YOUR NEIGHBOURS AND FOLLOW HIS CALL_

_OR RATS WILL MUST SURELY DEVOUR US ALL_

_TWO OVER, TWO UNDER, OF ROYAL DESCENT_

_TWO FLIERS, TWO CRAWLERS, TWO SPINNERS ASSENT_

_ONE GNAWER BESIDE AND ONE LOST UP AHEAD_

_AND EIGHT WILL BE LEFT WHEN WE COUNT UP THE DEAD_

_THE LAST WHO WILL DIE MUST DECIDE WHERE HE STANDS_

_THE FATE OF THE EIGHT IS CONTAINED IN HIS HANDS_

_SO BID HIM TAKE CARE, BID HIM LOOK WHERE HE LEAPS,_

_AS LIFE MAY BE DEATH AND DEATH LIFE AGAIN REAPS_

"Oh…so that is it? That is all it says? I thought it would say more about the Warrior himself," said Luxa, tracing the second stanza with her fingertips. How could they find out who the Warrior was if all that Bartholomew of Sandwich provided was some nonsense. She suddenly found herself very angry at the founder of Regalia. Would it have hurt to put some more information? Did he have to put it all in rhyme? If it hadn't been in rhyme, it would have been easier to write more about the Warrior.

Nerissa opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a guard knocking on the door and sticking his head in the room.

"Excuse me, Queen Luxa, but Vikus has need of you. You will find him in the High Hall." He said, and closed the door.

"We will speak later, for now, please save what you wanted to say," Luxa said, and walked out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**I just cannot describe in words how sorry I am, I haven't updated in so long…I just had to take care of six dogs as my dog had a litter of five puppies a few days ago and I had to care for them during the night and…here's a chapter to make up for it. I'm sorry, it's kinda short, but I want to get to the action faster…**

Luxa closed the door quietly behind her and started running towards the High Hall, eager to hear what Vikus needed to tell her. He, too, had probably worked out that Gregor was the Warrior. But she did not want him to be! Why did she look forward to seeing Gregor again? She had started hating him already…or did she? Maybe they could be friends…but no, that wasn't it. There was something about this boy that she liked. Something that made Luxa want to get to know him better.

"Luxa, walking. What will people think, seeing their queen running around the palace like that?" Vikus' voice brought Luxa back to reality.

"Vikus, I have no time for a lecture. What is it? Something about the Overlander?" Luxa asked excitedly, and stopped herself. Why was she excited? She had to learn to control her emotions more.

"Luxa, really, I have not seen you so agitated since the picnic with your Fount cousins, when you were prancing around the castle and giggling…by the way, you never told me what happened there…what is it?" Vikus' face registered concern and Luxa lost her energy for a second. This was the exact expression that he had worn for so many months after her parents were killed. She could still remember that day…

Her parents had had to go to a meeting, as an Overlander had come down a few weeks before that day and they were still judging when would be the safest time to bring him back up. They had hardly had time for her those weeks, and Luxa hadn't even seen them for ages. She had been only eight, and she had understood that her parents were busy. Then the alarm sounded; the Overlander had escaped. Her parents, along with two other soldiers, Lucius and Vera, and their fliers, had gone after him, although they were supposed to wait for other soldiers. Vikus had run into Luxa's room with Nerissa, who had been just as unstable, and told Luxa what had happened. She had waited for hours for her parents to come back, to tell her that everything was fine, but it was not her parents who entered the High Hall.

Lucius had flown in on Poseidon, Vera's flier, both badly injured. It was clear that Lucius was not long for this world, as a vein behind his knee had been torn and was bleeding greatly. Poseidon's left wing was broken in two places, and the poor flier could hardly keep flying. They both collapsed into the High Hall from a considerable distance, and Poseidon died due to the fall. He had, however, cushioned Lucius' fall, and the soldier had enough time to utter a few words.

"Overlander…taken by rats. The King and Queen, dead. Queen Luxa, I cannot say how sorry I am, for such an apology is impossible to utter. All dead, fliers, humans, all dead…" those were his last words.


End file.
